At 10 p.m. on Election Day on November 4th, 2025, Councilmember Vickie Paladino walked out of her office to the song ‘Fighter’ by Christina Aguilera, triumphant in her reelection campaign. The song was well chosen as Paladino has built a political brand known for its combative energy and conservative stances which has helped her to form a strong coalition of voters in Northeast Queens. After covering her rise to political prominence in a previous article, I reached out and conducted an exclusive interview interview via e-mail with the Councilmember Paladino, where she discussed her reelection win, the direction she sees the city going in the future, and how she managed to build her hold on her District. 

In your City Council biography, you mention being born in Whitestone and growing up there. In what ways has Whitestone changed over the years? How has growing up there influenced your political views today as a city councilwoman? 

In a lot of ways, Whitestone is very much the same as it was when I was growing up. A quieter part of the city, full of working people and small businesses, families, homeowners, and people who take pride in their neighborhood. But there have been changes as well; it’s gotten more expensive, there are more people living here, and unfortunately we’re seeing a lot more crime than we ever have in the past. 

My political views have been shaped by my life experience. My father was a World War II veteran who passed away when I was very young, and my mother raised four kids by herself. She worked in a button factory, and we all pitched in to make ends meet. Nobody ever handed us anything. No welfare, no charity, just a family working together. You learn a lot growing up like that. Resilience, independence, and personal responsibility were a big part of the culture, and I bring that into my politics today. 

You’ve run small businesses in the past. How did that experience influence the ways in which you approach local government and its role in our communities? 

My husband and I ran a small landscaping business in Northeast Queens for over twenty years, and then I worked with my sister who owned a successful interior goods factory in College Point for another ten years. Small business is the lifeblood of our community and our economy. We used to be a city dominated by small businesses and entrepreneurs. Family businesses were common, and they provided not only economic opportunity and income, but also helped people set down roots in the community. When you run a small business, you have a stake in our politics — taxes, public safety, transportation, corruption — it all becomes very real, because your livelihood depends on functional government. So small business breeds civic engagement, educated voters, and better government. 

And we’ve lost some of that in modern times, as more and more of our population instead work for government and government-funded ‘nonprofits’ which frankly cultivate corruption, waste, and a general detachment from the entrepreneurial and civic values that helped build this city in the first place. 

At what point in your career did you know that you wanted to be a City Councilperson? 

I was always politically engaged. I attended civic meetings and was active with local politics for a long time. I had a reputation as a community activist, but never really considered running for office until I had an encounter in Whitestone with Mayor de Blasio back in 2018. After that I was approached to run for State Senate. I wasn’t successful with that run. However, I used that campaign to help build up a political organization here in Whitestone, and that gave me the foundation to launch my successful run for Council in 2021.

What issues do you believe that residents of District 19 care the most about today? 

So according to our local polling for the 2025 election, the top issues for voters in District 19 are taxes and public safety, with zoning in third place. This tracks with my experience interacting with my constituents. Taxes are going up, and we’re seeing crime here like we’ve never seen before, and sadly, it doesn’t look like either of those problems are going to be fixed anytime soon. We’re also seeing a push to upzone and build denser housing in our district, which my constituents are very much against. 

The fact is, people here are deeply worried about the future of the city and our place in it, particularly with the election of Zohran Mamdani and his pledge to raise taxes and cut back police services. We’re talking about people here who work very hard for their money, worked very hard to be able to afford to live here, buy their homes, and raise their families, and now we’re facing a mayor who’s never done any of that, elected by predominantly young people who didn’t grow up here and seem to harbor a deep resentment towards the values most people in our district live by. People are expecting the worst. 

I heard you speak at an awards ceremony at my middle school, and my family briefly met you at Bay Terrace Shopping Center. What are some other ways in which you connect with your constituents? 

I’m out in the community every day. I try to be physically present as much as I can for my constituents, because it’s important that they see my face as much as possible, so they know that I care and that I’m paying attention to what’s actually going on. That means attending awards ceremonies, graduations, civic meetings, ribbon cuttings, everything. I feel like half the district has my personal cell phone number at this point, and that’s a good thing. Everyone knows they can just pick up the phone and call me, and I’ll do my best for them. 

You’ve built support among both conservatives and Asian-American voters. What do you think has helped you to connect across different communities in your district? 

People know they’ll always hear the truth from me, no matter what, good or bad, which is something that resonates with voters. And I’ve made it a priority to let the Asian-American community in my district know that I’m on their side, because at the end of the day, their values are the exact same values that I grew up with — family, security, faith, independence, and entrepreneurship. I bring those values to the City Council, and try to give a voice to people who really have felt ignored in this city for a long time now, whether they’re Asian, Italian, Greek, Hispanic, or anyone else. 

Your comments about Bronx Science alumnus Zohran Mamdani, class of 2010, have been seen as controversial by some. How would you respond to these critics? 

You know, a lot of what the media considers to be ‘controversial’ is actually just common sense to regular working people in neighborhoods like mine. I’ve never been shy about speaking my mind, and this is no different. Zohran represents an existential threat to the integrity and viability of New York City. He’s been engaged in anti-American radicalism since high school, as were both his parents. He never should have been granted citizenship, and we are all going to pay the price for it. I make no apologies.

After the November 4th, 2025 election, where do you see New York politics heading? 

Well, we’re post-election now, and I’m not optimistic in the short term. Zohran Mamdani’s mayorship is guaranteed to be a disaster. My only hope is that after four years of the chaos and economic strife that is inevitable under the leadership of a 33 year old trust-fund socialist who’s never held a job, the city wakes up and is prepared to make a dramatic shift in politics, similar to what happened after the first term of David Dinkins in 1993. We’ll just have to wait and see.

******

Even as the majority of voters subscribed to Bronx Science graduate Zohran Mamdani’s vision for the city during the 2025 election, Councilmember Paladino’s win shows that competing visions can still find a home in different parts of the city. As we enter a new era of city politics, Paladino is ready to be an influential voice amidst the continuing debates.

To read my accompanying article on Vicki Paladino’s rise to political prominence, click HERE.

Even as the majority of voters subscribed to Bronx Science graduate Zohran Mamdani’s vision for the city during the 2025 election, Councilmember Paladino’s win shows that competing visions can still find a home in different parts of the city. As we enter a new era of city politics, Paladino is ready to be an influential voice amidst the continuing debates.